The Puppet Master

In July 2002 King Diamond posted a statement on the band's official site: downloading and CD-burning had cut record sales, so the band could no longer expect the recording budgets it had been given before. To keep the quality on less money, the next album, The Puppet Master, would be made mostly away from costly commercial studios, at his home in Dallas and at Los Angered Recording, guitarist Andy La Rocque's studio near Gothenburg, half of whose equipment was to be shipped to Dallas. The story was already written. By April 2003 the basic tracks (rhythm guitars, bass, drums and keyboards) were done, King Diamond reported, and in June he and La Rocque were mixing. The album was recorded at Los Angered Recording, at Nomad Recording Studios in Dallas, at Solnasound Recording in Sweden and at King Diamond's house in Texas, where it was also mixed. King Diamond, La Rocque and J.T. Longoria produced it, Longoria also engineering the drum sound and co-producing the vocals, and Gary Long and King Diamond mastered it at Nomad. The line-up was King Diamond on vocals and keyboards, La Rocque and Mike Wead on guitars, Hal Patino on bass and Matt Thompson on drums, with additional vocals by Livia Zita. The story is set in 18th-century Budapest. After a Christmas puppet show with life-size puppets the narrator falls for Victoria; a year later she goes to the theatre and does not return, and searching for her he uncovers the secret of Emerencia, the puppet master's wife. The puppet master and his wife then turn him into a puppet too, to perform every night beside Victoria, who has met the same fate. The album was released on 21 October 2003 by the band's new European label, Massacre Records, and by Metal Blade Records in North America. The CD came with a DVD of about thirty minutes, King Diamond Tells the Story of The Puppet Master, in which the singer tells the tale in full make-up, and Massacre also issued LP and picture-disc editions. In the United States the album reached number 20 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart.